Press release, 28.04.2016
Today Deputy Chair of YABLOKO Nikolai Rybakov, First Deputy Chair of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO Galina Mikhaleva and party activists have conducted a series of one-person pickets in protest of the sentence to member of YABLOKO Federal Council Svetlana Chechil. The action took place outside the Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow.

The Petrozavodsk City Court sentenced her to 1.5 years in a penal colony under Article 286 Part 1 of the Criminal Code (abuse of authority).
The participants of the action held placards which said “Free Svetlana Chechil!” and “Svetlana Chechil is a new political victim in Karelia”.

“YABLOKO demands that the unlawful und unjust decision must be cancelled and Svetlana Checil must be released immediately. The YABLOKO party will fight for the cancellation of the unlawful sentence at every possible way, observing the Construction and the laws of the Russian Federation,” the party statement runs.

YABLOKO claims that the sentence to Svetlana Chechil is a reprisal against the political opponents of the Governor of the Republic Alexander Khudilainen.

Since 2012, when Khudilainen was appointed Governor of the Region [by Vladimir Putin], he has started the active redistribution of the economic assets in the region. He launched an unprecedented campaign of reprisals against YABLOKO members who had openly stated about the economic interests of the Governor and involvement of his team with corruption.

During 2013-2015 a large number of criminal cases were filed against the members of YABLOKO’s team: Deputy Mayor of Petrozavodsk Evgenia Sukhorukova, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia Anastasia Kravchuk, leader of the regional YABLOKO branch Vasily Popov, Chair of the army veterans council of the city Galina Karasova, deputy of Petrozavodsk City Council Olga Zaletskaya and other party members. The elected mayor of Petrozavodsk Galina Shirshina was ousted from her position illegally.

“We claim that all the facts of corruption in the region must be investigated and the guilty must be brought to responsibility. The resignation of Governor of the Republic Alexander Khudilainen who bears personal responsibility for persecution of his political opponents, deep social and economic crisis and turning corruption into a state institution in the Republic of Karelia must become an indescribable condition of this investigation,” Emilia Slabunova, Chair of the YABLOKO party said.